BJP to launch national campaign against fresh import of wheat

New Delhi, Sept 4 (UNI) Reacting sharply to the fresh import of wheat, BJP today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and stop the costly import as it was a ''fraud on the nation''.

''The fresh import of wheat at a whopping price of 390 dollars per metric tonne is a shameless loot of the nation and betrayal of Indian farmers. The lame excuses given by the government only confirm the existence of vested interests in the play. The scam is going to be 'Wheatgate' of United Progressive Alliance (UPA),'' BJP National spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said in a press statement issued here today.

He said the Indian farmer stands betrayed in the process. The UPA government paid only Rs 850 per quintal to Indian farmers and now it was paying Rs 1600 per quintal to foreign farmers. This is adding insult to Indian farmer's injury, who were demanding only Rs 1100 per quintal.

The decision to import wheat was taken during a meeting of an EGoM headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the absence of Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Pawar, who is abroad.

The current import price is about 88 per cent more than the MSP of Rs 8,500 per tonne at which the Government procurred about 11.1 million tonnes of wheat directly from farmers during the current Rabi Marketing Season.

The government first rejected the tender which offered wheat at 263 dollars per MT in June, citing the reason of prices being too high, the statement said.

Suddenly after ten days it changed its mind and ordered import of 5.7 lakh tonnes of wheat at 325 dollar per MT, the statement added. Though the wheat is yet to arrive, the government has already called for a third tender and placed an order for nearly eight lakh MT at a whopping rate of 390 dollars per MT. ''This is a daylight robbery,'' Mr Javadekar said.

''How can the government justify cancelling the first tender at the rate of 263 dollars per MT and within days place order at 325 dollars and now at the rate of 390 dollars per MT?'' BJP has appealed to the vigilance agencies and courts to take suo-moto pro-active action in face of such a fraud if the government is not accepting its demand for a CBI inquiry.

According to the statement, the government's argument of building up required buffer stock falls short on two accounts. Firstly, had the government offered Rs 1100 per quintal, enough procurement would have taken place. Secondly, this year's production is more by 50 lakh tonnes than last year, thus raising no distress signals.

''The Prime Minister also must explain how costly imports of wheat of unacceptable quality will help stabilise the price line on one hand and deliver justice to farmers on the other,'' BJP demanded.

BJP has already launched an agitation on wheat import scam, the spokesperson added.

UNI